Mobile Backhaul Dynamic QoS Bandwidth Harmonization

ABSTRACT

An embodiment includes determining estimate(s) of bandwidth for class(es) of quality of service to be implemented in base station(s) for service(s) provided to user equipment by the base station(s), determining expiration time(s) for corresponding ones of the estimate(s) of bandwidth, and communicating indications of the same toward mobile backhaul node(s). At a backhaul node, the indications are received and, based on the received indications, downstream bandwidth is modified for user equipment of different quality of service classes, wherein the downstream bandwidth passes through the mobile backhaul node toward the base station(s). Apparatus, software, and computer program produces are also disclosed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and,more specifically, relates to mobile backhaul in wireless communicationsystems.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to provide a background or context to theinvention disclosed below. The description herein may include conceptsthat could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have beenpreviously conceived, implemented or described. Therefore, unlessotherwise explicitly indicated herein, what is described in this sectionis not prior art to the description in this application and is notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Abbreviationsthat may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures aredefined below at the end of the specification but prior to the claims.

Today's 4G mobile broadband networks include interconnected Radio AccessNetwork (RAN)s, Mobile Backhaul (MBH) networks and Evolved Packet Core(EPC) networks. Traffic from the RAN/EPC is transported by the MBHnetworks, making these networks a critical component for providingoptimized end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS). In addition, QoS and itsimplementation of traffic bandwidth management is becoming more criticalin order to deliver optimized network performance and minimize the needfor additional equipment investment.

However, there are situations in which the MBH networks can be improved.

SUMMARY

This section contains examples of possible implementations and is notmeant to be limiting.

An exemplary apparatus includes one or more processors and one or morememories including computer program code. The one or more memories andthe computer program code are configured to, with the one or moreprocessors, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:determining, for one or more base stations capable of providing radiofrequency communication with a plurality of user equipment, one or moreestimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service tobe implemented in the one or more base stations for one or more servicesprovided to the plurality of user equipment by the one or more basestations; determining one or more expiration times for correspondingones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the one or moreclasses of quality of service to be implemented in the one or more basestations; and communicating toward one or more mobile backhaul nodes oneor more indications of the one or more estimates of the bandwidth forthe one or more classes of quality of service to be implemented in theone or more base stations and one or more indications of the one or moreexpiration times.

An exemplary computer program product includes a computer-readablemedium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with acomputer, the computer program code including: code for determining, forone or more base stations capable of providing radio frequencycommunication with a plurality of user equipment, one or more estimatesof bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service to beimplemented in the one or more base stations for one or more servicesprovided to the plurality of user equipment by the one or more basestations; code for determining one or more expiration times forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations; and code for communicating toward one or more mobilebackhaul nodes one or more indications of the one or more estimates ofthe bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality of service to beimplemented in the one or more base stations and one or more indicationsof the one or more expiration times.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes:determining, for one or more base stations capable of providing radiofrequency communication with a plurality of user equipment, one or moreestimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service tobe implemented in the one or more base stations for one or more servicesprovided to the plurality of user equipment by the one or more basestations; determining one or more expiration times for correspondingones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the one or moreclasses of quality of service to be implemented in the one or more basestations; and communicating toward one or more mobile backhaul nodes oneor more indications of the one or more estimates of the bandwidth forthe one or more classes of quality of service to be implemented in theone or more base stations and one or more indications of the one or moreexpiration times.

A further exemplary embodiment is an apparatus including: means fordetermining, for one or more base stations capable of providing radiofrequency communication with a plurality of user equipment, one or moreestimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service tobe implemented in the one or more base stations for one or more servicesprovided to the plurality of user equipment by the one or more basestations; means for determining one or more expiration times forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations; and means for communicating toward one or moremobile backhaul nodes one or more indications of the one or moreestimates of the bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality ofservice to be implemented in the one or more base stations and one ormore indications of the one or more expiration times.

An additional exemplary apparatus includes one or more processors andone or more memories including computer program code. The one or morememories and the computer program code are configured to, with the oneor more processors, cause the apparatus to perform at least thefollowing: receiving, at a mobile backhaul node, one or more indicationsof one or more estimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of qualityof service to be implemented in one or more base stations for one ormore services provided to a plurality of user equipment by the one ormore base stations and one or more indications of expiration times forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations; and modifying, based on the received indications,downstream bandwidth for user equipment of different quality of serviceclasses, wherein the downstream bandwidth passes through the mobilebackhaul node toward the one more base stations.

An exemplary computer program product includes a computer-readablemedium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with acomputer, the computer program code including: code for receiving, at amobile backhaul node, one or more indications of one or more estimatesof bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service to beimplemented in one or more base stations for one or more servicesprovided to a plurality of user equipment by the one or more basestations and one or more indications of expiration times forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations; and code for modifying, based on the receivedindications, downstream bandwidth for user equipment of differentquality of service classes, wherein the downstream bandwidth passesthrough the mobile backhaul node toward the one more base stations.

An additional exemplary method includes: receiving, at a mobile backhaulnode, one or more indications of one or more estimates of bandwidth forone or more classes of quality of service to be implemented in one ormore base stations for one or more services provided to a plurality ofuser equipment by the one or more base stations and one or moreindications of expiration times for corresponding ones of the one ormore estimates of bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality ofservice to be implemented in the one or more base stations; andmodifying, based on the received indications, downstream bandwidth foruser equipment of different quality of service classes, wherein thedownstream bandwidth passes through the mobile backhaul node toward theone more base stations.

A further exemplary apparatus includes the following: means forreceiving, at a mobile backhaul node, one or more indications of one ormore estimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality ofservice to be implemented in one or more base stations for one or moreservices provided to a plurality of user equipment by the one or morebase stations and one or more indications of expiration times forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations; and means for modifying, based on the receivedindications, downstream bandwidth for user equipment of differentquality of service classes, wherein the downstream bandwidth passesthrough the mobile backhaul node toward the one more base stations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the attached Drawing Figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which the exemplaryembodiments of the instant invention may be practiced;

FIG. 2 is a comparison of RAN-governed QoS and corresponding bandwidthand backhaul-governed QoS and corresponding bandwidth for anun-harmonized implementation;

FIG. 3 is an example of a mobile network 100, used to illustrate both aproblem with conventional systems and exemplary embodiments of theinstant invention;

FIG. 4 is a more specific example using the system of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a table of exemplary QCI to DSCP mapping;

FIG. 6 is an example of eNodeB and aggregation router operation inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary logic flow diagram performedby an MBH node that illustrates the operation of an exemplary method, aresult of execution of computer program instructions embodied on acomputer readable memory, and/or functions performed by logicimplemented in hardware, in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthis invention;

FIG. 8 is an example of eNodeB operation in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary logic flow diagram performedby a RAN node that illustrates the operation of an exemplary method, aresult of execution of computer program instructions embodied on acomputer readable memory, and/or functions performed by logicimplemented in hardware, in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthis invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As stated above, there are situations in which the MBH networks can beimproved. Before proceeding with descriptions of these situations,reference is now made to FIG. 1, which shows a block diagram of anexemplary system in which the exemplary embodiments may be practiced. InFIG. 1, a UE 110 is in wireless communication with a mobile network 100.The user equipment 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or morememories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected throughone or more buses 127. The one or more transceivers 130 are connected toone or more antennas 128. The one or more memories 125 include computerprogram code 123. The UE 110 communicates with eNB 150 via link 111. Ina typical scenario and as described in more detail below, there will bemultiple UEs 110 and multiple eNBs 150. However, for simplicity, FIG. 1only shows a single UE 110 and a single eNB 150.

The eNB 150 includes one or more processors 151, one or more memories155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 161, and one or moretransceivers 160 interconnected through one or more buses 157. The oneor more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. Theone or more memories 155 include computer program code 153. In exemplaryembodiments, the one or more memories 155 and the computer program code153 are configured to, with the one or more processors 151, cause theeNBs 150 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein.The one or more network interfaces 161 communicate over links such asthe links 170 and 131. Two or more eNBs 150 communicate using, e.g.,link 170. The link 170 may be wired or wireless or both and mayimplement, e.g., an X2 interface.

The mobile network 100 may include one or more MBH nodes 190, whichprovide connectivity with a further network, such as the core network(e.g., EPC) 195. Link 196 may use the S1 interface for instance toconnect the MBH node 190 to the core network 195. For ease of reference,only one MBH node 190 is shown in FIG. 1. The core network 195 mayprovide connectivity with additional networks (not shown), such astelephone networks and/or a data communications network (e.g., theInternet). The eNB 150 is coupled via a network 131 to the MBH node 190.The network 131 may be implemented as, e.g., an S1 interface. The MBHnode 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171,and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 180, interconnectedthrough one or more buses 185. The one or more memories 171 includecomputer program code 173. In exemplary embodiments, the one or morememories 171 and the computer program code 173 are configured to, withthe one or more processors 175, cause the MBH node 190 to perform one ormore operations described herein.

The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any typesuitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented usingany suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memorydevices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, opticalmemory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Theprocessors 120, 151, and 175 may be of any type suitable to the localtechnical environment, and may include one or more of general purposecomputers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processorarchitecture, as non-limiting examples.

As stated above, QoS and its implementation of traffic bandwidthmanagement is becoming more critical in order to deliver optimizednetwork performance and minimize the need for additional equipmentinvestment. Operators want to differentiate users to providedifferentiated services and charge premium rates. RAN and EPC technologyare available today to perform differentiation at the end-user level(e.g., Gold, Silver and Bronze users), however the lack of trafficbandwidth harmonization between RAN/EPC and MBH cause unexpected resultsunder some circumstances. Particularly, while RAN/EPC QoS mechanisms arewell defined by 3GPP standards for mobile broadband (See, e.g., for LIEfrom release 8, 3GPP TS 23.207 & TS 23.107), there is no specificstandard mechanism for MBH and different transport technologies and QoStraffic bandwidth management implementation are used. This createsun-harmonized RAN/EPC and MBH bandwidth allocation.

This lack of bandwidth harmonization between RAN/EPC and backhaul QoSframework creates challenges to enforce the desired service/userdifferentiation in current mobile networks as explained in reference toFIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a comparison of RAN-governed QoS and correspondingbandwidth and backhaul-governed QoS and corresponding bandwidth for anun-harmonized implementation. This example illustrates from 7 to 18users. For “RAN Governed QoS”, “Gold users” are shown below line 210 and“Bronze users” are shown above line 210. For “Backhaul Governed QoS”,Gold users are shown below line 220 and Bronze users are shown aboveline 220.

The left diagram (entitled “RAN Governed Qos”) in FIG. 2 illustrates thedesired differentiation behavior as determined by the mobile operator.Gold users should always have better relative services than Bronze usersregardless of the number of subscribers in the network. This behavior isenforced by the RAN and EPC at the subscriber level and should berespected by the MBH network. The right diagram (entitled “BackhaulGoverned QoS”) in FIG. 2 illustrates the impact of the traditional MBH“per hop behavior” QoS implementation over the expected RAN/EPCbehavior. The different traffic classes (e.g., Gold, Silver and Bronzeclasses) are handled by the MBH nodes with classical packet QoSconfigurations. For example, every traffic class may be assigned a fixedscheduler-weight in a packet-scheduler, where the scheduler-weight isusually defined statically in the planning phase and represents a fixedallocation of the transmission bandwidth that the specific class willreceive in case of congestion. As these weights are fixed, theproportion of traffic for the different traffic classes is also fixed incase of congestion. If the actual relation of subscribers assigned todifferent subscriber groups (here “Gold” and “Bronze”) deviates from thedefined engineering/planning assumptions, the expected behavior does nothappen. In the right diagram of FIG. 2, the Gold users are getting afixed allocation of the capacity regardless of the number of users. As aconsequence, the Bronze users may perceive a very bad service qualitythat varies significantly based on the number of users. However, at theleft bar of the right diagram, the single bronze user is getting muchbetter performance than each one of the seven gold users in thisinstance. The intention of the operator in this case was to give abetter “relative service” to the Gold users, but not constraining theBronze users as illustrated in most parts of the left diagram. On theother hand, if only a small number of Bronze users is connected to aRAN, Bronze users can receive a much better relative service quality ascompared to what was planned by the network operator. Many otherdeviations from the expected behavior happen due to the un-harmonizedtraffic bandwidth allocations between RAN/EPC and MBH.

All the planning regarding traffic engineering to support differentservice classes is done in advance and based on statistical expectationsand assumptions. Dynamic effects and variations are not considered inthe QoS design due to the absence of any interaction between RAN/EPC andMBH.

Another manifestation of the problem is depicted in FIG. 3. It is notedthat FIG. 3 is also used to illustrate exemplary embodiments herein.FIG. 3 shows a mobile network 300 that includes a Radio Access Network(RAN) 310, a Mobile Backhaul (MBH) network 350, and an Evolved PacketCore (EPC) 330. The RAN 310 includes two eNodeBs, eNodeB 1 150-1 andeNodeB 2 150-2. Each eNodeB 150 forms a corresponding coverage area 305.A coverage area 305 is typically formed from multiple cells. That is,there can be multiple cells per eNB. For instance, there could be threecells for a single eNodeB carrier frequency and associated bandwidth,each cell covering one-third of a 360 degree area so that the singleeNodeB's coverage area 305 covers an approximate oval or circle.Furthermore, each cell can correspond to a single carrier and an eNodeBmay use multiple carriers. So if there are three 120 degree cells percarrier and two carriers, then the eNodeB 150 has a total of six cellsto form the coverage area 305.

In this example, the eNodeB 150-1 serves a group 301-1 of users. In thegroup 301-1 of users, there are 29 users, each of which corresponds to asingle user equipment 110. The eNodeB 150-2 serves a group 301-3 of 38users, each of which corresponds to a single user equipment 110.

Each eNodeB 150 communicates with the MBH network 350 via the links 131.The Network Control Element (NCE) 320 is an optional node that may becoupled to one or both of the eNodeBs 305 and may perform operationsdescribed herein for exemplary embodiments of the instant invention.

The MBH network 350 includes a plurality of MBH nodes 190-1 to 190-3,which are routers in this example. The MBH network 350 also includesmicrowave communication equipment 330-1 and 330-2, which communicateusing microwave link 360.

The EPC 330 is an example of the core network 190 of FIG. 1, and the EPC330 includes in this example the SAE-GW 340 and the MME 325. However,there could be other nodes in the EPC 330 and FIG. 3 is merelyexemplary. The EPC 330 is connected to the Internet 380 in this example.

To describe a problem associated with a conventional mobile system 300,assume an operator wants to enforce that Gold users receive three timesmore bandwidth than Silver users to differentiate the services. In aspecific moment there are, in eNodeB #1 150-1, four Gold and 25 Silversubscribers that will share the 50 Mbps spectrum capacity over link111-1 and link 113-1, providing 4 Mbps per Gold-user and 1.3 Mbps perSilver-user and enforcing the desired differentiation. In eNodeB #2115-2, there are 6 Gold and 32 Silver subscribers that will share the 50Mbps spectrum capacity over link 111-2 and link 113-2, providing 3 Mbpsper Gold-user and 1 Mbps per Silver-user.

In the backhaul, there is an overbooked (indicated by reference 370)microwave link 360 of 80 Mbps that should be shared amongst the eNodeBs150 and users 301 respecting the desired differentiation enforcement.The link 360 is overbooked because the 80 Mbps provided by the linkcannot handle the 100 Mbps from both of the links 131-1, 131-2.

In order to implement the desired behavior, the router (e.g., router 1190-1) needs to be aware of the base station status which is notpossible without the exemplary embodiments herein. In the currentbackhaul technology, the QoS schedulers (not shown in FIG. 3) of therouter 190-1 are defined statically based on an offline network planningprocess. The proportion by which the link (in this example, themicrowave link 360) is shared is thus fixed and defined by theconfigured scheduler-weight, and therefore is totally blind to theactual number of subscribers.

In the diagram of FIG. 4, the issue is detailed with a real example. Theoperator has defined that, in case of congestion, Gold Traffic Class inthe backhaul should get a maximum of 40% of the link-capacity (40%×80Mbps=32 Mbps) and Silver Traffic Class in the backhaul a maximum of 60%(60%×80 Mbps=48 Mbps). See the arrow 410 and the reference 420.

In this situation, the Gold users will fully utilize the allocatedcapacity in the backhaul (32 Mbps) leaving 48 Mbps for the Silver users.As a consequence the “per-user throughput ratio” will be the followingresult:

-   -   Gold users get 32 Mbps for 10 subs (subscribers), which is 3.2        Mbps/sub (subscriber, a user 301); and    -   Silver users get 48 Mbps for 57 subs, which is 0.8 Mbps/sub.

Thus, the Gold users are getting four times more bandwidth in the MBHnetwork 350 than the Silver users, clearly not enforcing the desiredbehavior in the RAN that is “Gold should get 3 times more bandwidth thanSilver in the case of contention” (see arrow 430).

Turning to FIG. 5, this figure is a table of exemplary QCI to DSCPmapping and is used to illustrate further problems with conventionalsystems. Some of this information is similar to the information in Table6.1.7, Standardized QCI characteristics, 3GPP TS 23.203 V11.7.0(2012-09). The DSCP is typically a 6-bit value, in this example shown asdecimal (“dec”), so 46 d is 46 decimal. The per-hop behavior (PHB) isclassified as EF (Expedited Forwarding), AF (Assured Forwarding), and BE(Best Effort). To implement appropriate per-hop behavior within the MBHdomain, DSCP are mapped to separate queues. Differentiated service forpackets in these different queues demands the network operator toconfigure weights and priorities for these queues. As of today, this isa static configuration, depending on the network operator's assumptionon the distribution of end customers and their usage of services. Eachqueue is again statically assigned different priorities, weights andminimum rates. As described above, the static QoS configuration in theMBH network elements under certain conditions results in a severemismatch between planned and real bandwidth per connected UE.

To reduce or eliminate these exemplary problems, an exemplary embodimentof the instant invention, e.g., if implemented in mobile network 300 ofFIG. 3, could harmonize QoS bandwidth of the MBH network 350 with theQOS bandwidth of the RAN 310. Exemplary embodiments herein include amethod of extracting, calculating and time stamping QoS trafficbandwidth related information from the RAN eNodeB schedulers, insertingthis information unobtrusively in upstream packets and having thetraffic schedulers of MBH routers and/or switches (as MBH nodes 190),use this information to harmonize their downstream QoS traffic bandwidthto match that of the RAN eNodeB schedulers, thereby avoiding congestionand bottlenecks. These exemplary techniques will eliminate the problemsstated above. In terms of FIG. 4, for instance, an exemplary embodimentof the instant invention can dynamically modify the bandwidth for Silverusers from 48 Mbps to another bandwidth that respects the desiredradio-enforcement that is providing Gold users with three times morebandwidth than Silver users.

In certain exemplary embodiments herein, the RAN eNodeB per sector(e.g., or per sector carrier) uniquely calculates and time stamps QoSclass queue (e.g., relative) bandwidth related information from a (e.g.,radio) scheduler, inserts this information unobtrusively in upstreamGTP-U header private extension for user-plane packets. As the GTP-Uuser-plane packets traverse through an MBH node such as an MBH routerand/or switch, this information is fetched and dependent upon theexpiration time, the downlink (e.g., traffic) scheduler, using thisinformation and unique calculation, harmonizes downstream QoS classqueue bandwidth to match that of the radio scheduler, thereby avoidingcongestion and bottlenecks. In an example, the calculating, inserting,fetching and adjusting runs continuously for dynamic harmonization ofthe QoS traffic bandwidth of MBH routers and/or switches, therebyavoiding congestion, bottleneck and potential packet loss. The bandwidthrelated information could be an estimated bandwidth, a number of userequipment connected per QCI, an indication of “out of band” QoS class,e.g., where more user equipment are in one QoS class and the bandwidthfor that class may not be able to handle the traffic, or where relativebandwidth increases/decreases from a previous bandwidth. Additionally,the communication of bandwidth-related information may use any standardcommunication protocol like SNMP (simple network management protocol) orRPC (remote procedure call) or ftp (file transport protocol) or http(hypertext transmission protocol).

Referring to FIG. 6, an example is shown of eNodeB and aggregationrouter operation in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In thisexample, an eNodeB 150 has a QCI (RAN Class ID) and scheduler 710, whichincludes a smart scheduler 740, buffers 720-1 through 720-N, a MACscheduler 725, and a physical layer 735. The data flows 715-1 to 715-Nare placed into corresponding buffers 720. Each of the data flows 715 isassociated with a QCI: data flow 715-1 has QCI8; data flow 715-2 hasQCI9; data flow 715-3 has QCI9; and data flow 715-N has QCI1. The MACscheduler 725 places data from the data flows 715 into transport blocks(TBs) 730-1 through 730-M, which are transmitted to UEs 110 via thephysical layer 735. The smart scheduler 740 is a radio scheduler in anexample that controls the MAC scheduler 725. As indicated, the smartscheduler 740 bases scheduling on certain inputs, including HARQ (hybridautomatic repeat request), resource check (for TD, time division, andFD, frequency division UEs), buffer statuses of buffers 720, QCI, andARP (allocation and retention priority). The smart scheduler 740 in anexample calculates and adds the Bandwidth and Expiration Time shown byreference 750. Reference 750 shows one example of how Bandwidth andExpiration Time may be added to packets, through a private extension ona packet, where the private extension contains the Bandwidth andExpiration Time. This is further illustrated in FIG. 8.

An MBH node 190 which in this example is an aggregation router, includesa router DSCP (MBH Class ID) and scheduler 760, which includes a smartscheduler 765. Based in part on QoS classes 770 of Gold, Silver, andBronze, the incoming packets 761 are placed into corresponding buffers775. The smart scheduler 765 schedules (780) packets 761 for outputbased on, e.g., scheduler weights (e.g., W1, W2, W3), each weightcorresponding to one of the QoS classes 770. In this example, thepackets 1 and 4 belong to the Bronze QoS class 770-3, packet 3 belongsto the Silver QoS class 770-2, and packet 2 belongs to the Gold QoSclass 770-1. The output packets 762 have a different order based on theweighting performed by the smart scheduler 765 in operation 780. Thescheduling 780 puts output packets into a physical queue 777, which istypically implemented in hardware such as a DSP, application-specificintegrated circuit (IC), or other integrated circuit, e.g., to supportthe required speed for packet handling. Block 755 indicates that theaggregation router 190 intercepts the packet and fetches (e.g.,retrieves) indications of bandwidth (“Bandwidth”) and indications ofexpiration time (“Expiration Time”) associated with a QoS class(“Class”) from an eNodeB (“Source IP Address”). The aggregation router190 then performs a determination as to whether the bandwidth for a QoSclass should be modified and performs the modification based on thedetermination. In this example, an algorithm performed by the smartscheduler 765 is shown by reference 755. In this example, it is firstchecked if the destination IP address for a packet in the output queuehaving a particular QoS class is a particular source LP address of aneNodeB AND whether bandwidth for the output queue having the particularQoS class is greater than the currently assigned bandwidth for theparticular QoS class. If so, it is then determined if the ExpirationTime is greater than the sum of the Current Time and the EstimatedArrival Time (e.g., for a packet to go from the MBH 350 to the RAN 310),and if so the bandwidth for this particular QoS class (shown as“<Class><Bandwidth>”) is left unchanged. It is noted that this algorithmis merely one example and other algorithms are possible.

FIG. 7 describes this process in more detail. FIG. 7 is a block diagramof an exemplary logic flow diagram performed by an MBH node 190 thatillustrates the operation of an exemplary method, a result of executionof computer program instructions embodied on a computer readable memory,and/or functions performed by logic implemented in hardware, inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of this invention. In thisexample, the MBH node 190 is the aggregation router shown in FIG. 6.However, this could be a switch or other element such as the NCE 320.The smart scheduler 765 may perform these operations within theaggregation router 190, or another entity in the aggregation router canperform some or all of the operations. In block 810, the aggregationrouter 190 intercepts (e.g., “snoops”, which is a process of readingpackets typically without modifying the packets) packet(s) from the RAN310. In block 820, the aggregation router 190 retrieves (e.g., fetches)indication(s) from the packets of estimate(s) of bandwidth to beimplemented in one or more base stations and expiration time for aparticular QCI, which is one example of a QoS class. Examples ofestimates of bandwidth are described in more detail in reference toFIGS. 8 and 9.

In block 830, it is determined if the current downstream bandwidth forthe particular QoS class (e.g., as indicated by QCI of the packet(s))should be modified based on the estimates of bandwidth. If the currentdownstream bandwidth (BW) should be modified (block 840=Yes), the flowproceeds to block 850, were it is determined whether the time forbandwidth modification has expired based on the indication of theexpiration time. One example of block 850 is shown as block 855, wherethe time for bandwidth modification has expired if the expiration timeis greater than a sum of the current time and an estimated arrival time(e.g., the time that it takes a packet to go from the outbound queue inthe mobile backhaul to the outbound queue in the eNodeB to be sent outin the radio link). Because conditions may change rapidly at an eNodeB150, block 850 ensures that the bandwidth is not changed based on old,stale bandwidth information. The expiration time contains a time for howlong the bandwidth calculation is valid. This would typically be currenttime (at the time the eNodeB enters the information into the packet,per, e.g., a timestamp) plus a delta that indicates the validity of theestimates of bandwidth prediction executed by the algorithm running inthe NCE. The delta is in an example a minimum of an estimate of packetroundtrip time from the RAN to the MBH node 190, e.g., 10 ms. This deltacould be readjusted depending on how congested the radio schedulerqueues (e.g., buffers 720) are, thus the bandwidth may be more or lesslikely to change based on, e.g., congestion.

In block 860, responsive to a determination the current downstream BWshould be modified for the particular QoS class (block 840=Yes) andoptionally the time for bandwidth modification has not expired (block850=No), the current downstream bandwidth for the particular QoS classis modified. This may be performed through many exemplary techniques.Block 870 shows one exemplary technique, where the scheduler weight forthe particular QoS class is modified (e.g., the weights for the otherQoS classes are modified) for logical queues (e.g., buffers 775). Forinstance, in FIG. 6, weights W1, W2, and W3 correspond to QoS classes770-1 (Gold), 770-2 (Silver), and 770-3 (Bronze), respectively. Theseweights could be adjusted so that the sum of the weights is one, e.g.,W1+W2+W3=1. If weight W1 is increased, then weight W2 and/or weight W3will be decreased. There may be limits to this, such as having a minimumweight for each QoS class below which the weight cannot fall, or havinga maximum weight for each QoS above which the weight cannot rise.Another example is illustrated by block 880, where an output of aphysical queue 777 is modified, e.g., to modify preferences fortransmission of packets for QoS classes based on the estimates ofbandwidth. Modifying output of the physical queue 777 may be morechallenging than modifying the weights W, since the physical queue 777is typically implemented in hardware such as a DSP or IC, but ispossible.

As another example, “bandwidth per QCI” information can be applied in astandard router H-QoS-framework to produce the expected radio-governedQoS, thereby making the backhaul Radio aware. For example, the routercan apply a class weight for the class corresponding to QCI i equal tothe ratio of Sum (bandwidth consumed of QCI_i over all eNodeB) to theSum (bandwidth consumed by all QCIs over all eNodeB), where thebandwidth of QCI i is sent by each eNB to the router as per the proposedtechniques described below. Additionally, the router may apply aburstiness or overprovisioning factor in the numerator of this ratio toallow for variability in the bandwidth provided to a given QCI classover the radio interface. For instance, in case a specific QCI transporttraffic from valuable customers, a provider might want to alwaysoverprovision this traffic a little bit (e.g., a 10%, ten percent,increase over the bandwidth prediction) in order that small fluctuationsdo not cause user-experience degradation The bandwidth per QCI may beper sector-carrier (i.e., per sector, per carrier).

Block 805 indicates the flow in FIG. 7 may occur per sector, and alsoper carrier (i.e., per sector-carrier). Block 805 may also indicate theflow in FIG. 7 may also occur per base station. That is, one mightrestrict this only for a particular base station (e.g., or a particularset of base stations) and then a way to identify a particular basestation is by IP address. To be able to differentiate sector-carriers,this information could be included in the upstream packet as well.

Referring to FIG. 8, an example is shown of eNodeB operation inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. The eNodeB 150 sendscontinuously (in an example), e.g., per sector-carrier and/or basestation(s) an estimate of bandwidth to be implemented by the basestation(s) per the following bandwidth calculations, per QCI-Class, asnon-limiting examples of such calculations:

(1) Based on past real-time historical analysis 960, where the BW forQCI i

$\left( {``{QCI\_ i}"} \right) = \frac{{BS}_{QCI\_ i}}{t}$

(e.g., number of bytes sent for this specific QCI on the last timeperiod), where BS is the total number of bytes sent in period t, and tis t period of analysis (e.g., 10 ms); or

(2) Based on predictive future real-time analysis 965, where the BW forQCI k

$\left( {``{QCI\_ i}"} \right) = \frac{{BF}_{i}*{BuS}_{i}*n}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{n}\; {N_{m}*{TTI}_{m}}}$

(e.g., number of bytes in the buffer-flows expected to be sent on next10 ms—U-Plane roundtrip latency), where BF is a buffer overflow for QCIi (e.g., in percent), BuS is a buffer size for QCI i per data flow(e.g., in bytes), n is a number of data flows, and N*TTI is a predictivetime needed to deplete the buffer (e.g., in seconds).

In this example, an indication 950 of the predicted bandwidth, BW, inMbps (for instance) is added to an extension header of a GTP packet 910.An indication 955 of the expiration time is also added to the extensionheader 940. The source IP 920 of the eNodeB and the QCI 930 are alreadyconventionally added to the GTP packet 910.

Turning to FIG. 9, this figure is a block diagram of an exemplary logicflow diagram performed by a RAN node that illustrates the operation ofan exemplary method, a result of execution of computer programinstructions embodied on a computer readable memory, and/or functionsperformed by logic implemented in hardware, in accordance with exemplaryembodiments of this invention. The RAN node could be an eNodeB 150, anNCE 320, or other element. The smart scheduler 740 may perform some orall of the flow in FIG. 9, or another entity in the RAN node may performsome or all of the flow. Reference 1005 is used to indicate the flowoperations may be performed per sector, carrier, or base station. Inblock 1010, the RAN node determines estimates of bandwidth for one ormore classes of quality of service to be implemented in one or more basestations for one or more services provided to a plurality of userequipment. Exemplary prediction analyses 960, 970 may be used for theestimates of bandwidth 1015-1. Other estimates of bandwidth 1015 includepredicted bandwidth change 1015-2 from a previous bandwidth, which couldoccur for instance, if the estimates of bandwidth 1015-1 are sentperiodically (e.g., every second) and then predicted bandwidth change1015-2 (e.g., “increase bandwidth” or “bandwidth increase of 10 Mbps”)are sent between the sending of the estimates of bandwidth 1015-1; orsimply, “increase/decrease” bandwidth could be used for 1015-2. Anotherexample is of an estimate of bandwidth 1015 is a number of userequipment per one or more QCI 1015-3, which informs the MBH node 190that bandwidth for each QCI should be modified. Another example is oneor more “out of band” QoS classes, which indicates which QoS class(es)are estimated to require more bandwidth. Note that these are allestimates of bandwidth to be implemented in one or more base stations,since each implies how much bandwidth for QoS class(es) are estimated tobe used by the RAN node. These are merely exemplary, and other estimatesof bandwidth 1015 are possible.

In block 1017, expiration times of the estimates of bandwidth 1015 aredetermined. In an example, the base station needs to know only theamount of time the estimate of bandwidth 1015 is valid (e.g., 10 msafter a time stamp is applied to the packet) as the packet has a timestamp. This could be informed in the packet itself. Practicalimplementation in an exemplary embodiment is to have a fixed amount oftime for which the estimate of bandwidth 1015 is valid, otherwise thenetwork may be too dynamic and might become unstable. In an example, theindication 955 of the expiration time added to a packet or otherwisecommunicated to the MBH is a timestamp for the packet plus a delta,which may be an estimated roundtrip delay from the RAN to the MBH andback from the MBH to the RAN. As explained above, however, the delta maybe modified dynamically and in real-time.

In one example, as indicated by reference 1006 and block 1040, one ormore indications of estimates of bandwidth for one or more classes ofquality of service to be implemented in one or more base stations andexpiration time are communicated toward one or more mobile backhaulnodes 190, e.g., via (block 1050) SNMP (simple network managementprotocol) or RPC (remote procedure call) or ftp (file transportprotocol) or http (hypertext transmission protocol). Note that theexpiration time in this example can be a timestamp prior to a beginningof the communication and a delta. Typically, the timestamp would takenas close as possible to the beginning of the communication.

Another example is illustrated in FIG. 8 and by blocks 1020, 1030, and1040. In block 1020, the RAN node inserts one or more indications of thepredicted bandwidth in one or more packets. One example of this is block1022, where an indication of the estimate of bandwidth to be implementedby one or more base stations is inserted in the extension header of datapackets for data flow for that QCI. An example of this is shown in FIG.8, by reference 950. In block 1030, the RAN node inserts, in an example,one or more indications 955 of expiration time in the one or morepackets. One example of this is block 1032, where an indication of theexpiration time is inserted in the extension header of data packets fordata flow for that QCI. An example of this is shown in FIG. 8 byreference 955. In block 1040, the RAN node transmits the one or morepackets with the one or more indications toward one or more mobilebackhaul nodes.

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software(executed by one or more processors), hardware (e.g., an applicationspecific integrated circuit), or a combination of software and hardware.In an example embodiment, the software (e.g., application logic, aninstruction set) is maintained on any one of various conventionalcomputer-readable media. In the context of this document, a“computer-readable medium” may be any media or means that can contain,store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer, with one example of a computer described anddepicted, e.g., in FIG. 1. A computer-readable medium may comprise acomputer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory(ies) 155, 171 or otherdevice) that may be any media or means that can contain and store theinstructions for use by or in connection with an instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed ina different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, ifdesired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional ormay be combined.

Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independentclaims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations offeatures from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims withthe features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinationsexplicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exampleembodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed ina limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modificationswhich may be made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention as defined in the appended claims.

The following abbreviations that may be found in the specificationand/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:

3GPP third Generation Partnership Project

AF Assured Forwarding

ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

BE Best Effort

BSC Base Station Controller

BTS Base Transfer Station

BW Bandwidth

CSR Cell Site Router

DSCP Differentiated Services Code Points

DSP Digital Signal Processor

EF Expedited Forwarding

EPC Evolved Packet Core

eNB or eNodeB evolved Node B, e.g., an LIE base station

G generation, as in 2G for second generation

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

GW gateway

HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request

IC Integrated circuit

ID identification

IP Internet Protocol

kbps kilobits per second

LTE Long Term Evolution

MAC Media Access Control

MBH Mobile Backhaul

Mbps Mega-bits per second

MME Mobility Management Entity

ms milliseconds

NCE Network Control Element

PHB Per-Hop Behavior

QCI Quality Class Indicator, also call QoS Class Identifier

QoS Quality of Service

RAN Radio Access Network

RF Radio Frequency

RNC Radio Network Controller

SAE-GW System Architecture Evolution Gateway

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

TB Transport Block

TS Technical Standard

TTI Transmission Time Intervals

UE User Equipment, e.g., a mobile terminal

WFQ Weighted Fair Queuing

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors;and one or more memories including computer program code, the one ormore memories and the computer program code configured, with the one ormore processors, to cause the apparatus to perform at least thefollowing: determining, for one or more base stations capable ofproviding radio frequency communication with a plurality of userequipment, one or more estimates of bandwidth for one or more classes ofquality of service to be implemented in the one or more base stationsfor one or more services provided to the plurality of user equipment bythe one or more base stations; determining one or more expiration timesfor corresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for theone or more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the oneor more base stations; and communicating toward one or more mobilebackhaul nodes one or more indications of the one or more estimates ofthe bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality of service to beimplemented in the one or more base stations and one or more indicationsof the one or more expiration times.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the one or more estimates of bandwidth for one or more classesof quality of service to be implemented in the one or more base stationscomprise one or more real-time historical analyses of byte usage for theone or more classes of quality of service.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the one or more real-time historical analyses of byte usage forthe one or more classes of quality of service comprise, for an ithquality of service class identifier (“QCI_i”), calculating$\frac{{BS}_{QCI\_ i}}{t},$ where BS_(QCI) _(—) _(i) is is a number ofbytes sent for the ith quality of service class identifier for period ofanalysis t.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or moreestimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service tobe implemented in the one or more base stations comprise one or morepredictive future real-time analyses of predicted byte usage for the oneor more classes of quality of service.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4,wherein the one or more predictive future real-time analyses ofpredicted byte usage for the one or more classes of quality of servicecomprise, for an ith quality of service class identifier, calculating$\frac{{BF}_{i}*{BuS}_{i}*n}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{n}\; {N_{m}*{TTI}_{m}}}$where BF is a buffer overflow for the ith quality of service classidentifier, BuS is a buffer size for the ith quality of service classidentifier per data flow, n is a number of data flows, N*TTI is apredictive time needed to deplete the buffer, and TTI is transmissiontime interval.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or moreestimates of bandwidth for one or more classes of quality of service tobe implemented in the one or more base stations comprise one or more“out of band” quality of service classes, which indicate which qualityof service classes are estimated to require more bandwidth.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein determining further comprises determiningone or more estimates of a number of connected user equipment for atleast one of the one or more classes of quality of service.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein communicating further comprises: insertingin one or more packets the one or more indications of the one or moreestimates of the bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality ofservice to be implemented in the one or more base stations and the oneor more indication of the one or more expiration times; and transmittingthe one or more packets toward the one or more mobile backhaul nodes. 9.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein determining the one or more expirationtimes further comprises setting the one or more expiration times asbeing a timestamp corresponding to a packet and a delta forcorresponding ones of the one or more estimates of bandwidth for the oneor more classes of quality of service to be implemented in the one ormore base stations.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the delta hasa minimum value of an estimate of packet roundtrip time from theapparatus to the one or more mobile backhaul nodes.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein communicating further comprises using one of simplenetwork management protocol, remote procedure call, file transportprotocol, or hypertext transmission protocol to communicate the one ormore indications toward the one or more mobile backhaul nodes.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the one or more expirationtimes further comprises setting the one or more expiration times asbeing a timestamp and a delta for corresponding ones of the one or moreestimates of bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality of serviceto be implemented in the one or more base stations.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein determining the one or more expiration times furthercomprises adjusting the delta in real-time based on how congested radioscheduler queues are for corresponding one of the one or more classes ofquality of service.
 14. An apparatus, comprising: one or moreprocessors; and one or more memories including computer program code,the one or more memories and the computer program code configured, withthe one or more processors, to cause the apparatus to perform at leastthe following: receiving, at a mobile backhaul node, one or moreindications of one or more estimates of bandwidth for one or moreclasses of quality of service to be implemented in one or more basestations for one or more services provided to a plurality of userequipment by the one or more base stations and one or more indicationsof expiration times for corresponding ones of the one or more estimatesof bandwidth for the one or more classes of quality of service to beimplemented in the one or more base stations; and modifying, based onthe received indications, downstream bandwidth for user equipment ofdifferent quality of service classes, wherein the downstream bandwidthpasses through the mobile backhaul node toward the one more basestations.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein adjusting furthercomprises adjusting downstream bandwidth quality of service for userequipment of different classes and for the one or more base stations.16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein adjusting further comprisesadjusting downstream bandwidth quality of service for user equipment ofdifferent classes and for different sectors in the one or more basestations.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein adjusting furthercomprises adjusting downstream bandwidth quality of service for userequipment of different classes and for different sector-carriers in theone or more base stations.
 18. The apparatus of claim 14, whereinreceiving further comprising receiving one or more packets containingthe one or more indications.
 19. The apparatus of claim 14, whereinreceiving further comprises receiving the indications using one ofsimple network management protocol, remote procedure call, filetransport protocol, or hypertext transmission protocol.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein modifying is performed in response to theexpiration time being greater than a sum of a current time and anestimated arrival time for a packet from the mobile backhaul node to abase station.
 21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein modifying furthercomprises modifying the downstream bandwidth for the user equipment ofthe different quality of service classes by modifying a scheduler weightcorresponding to each different quality of service class.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein modifying further comprises modifying thedownstream bandwidth for the user equipment of the different quality ofservice classes by modifying an output of a physical queue.